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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Mar 17th, 2021–Mar 20th, 2021

Alpine
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Alpine
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Alpine
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.

Regions

Waterton Lakes.

Thursday will be another warm day before things start to cool off this weekend, so start and end your day early.

Weather Forecast

Thursday: Sunny with cloudy periods. Alpine temperature: High 8 °C. Wind SW 15 km/h gusting to 70 km/h. Freezing level: 2400 metres.

Friday: A mix of sun and cloud with isolated showers. Alpine temperature: Low 0 °C, High 6 °C. Wind SW 20 km/h gusting to 65 km/h. Freezing level: 2400 metres.

Saturday: Cloudy with sunny periods and isolated flurries.

Snowpack Summary

A crust exists on the surface to ridgetop on solar aspects and at low elevations breaking down during the day. This tops 30-50cm dense snow above of the Feb 14 facet layer which is above hard surfaces in most places. The remainder of the midpack is made up of dense facets and decomposing crusts, with early season ice crusts forming the base.

Avalanche Summary

Size 1-2 wet loose avalanches have been observed at the heat of the day on solar aspects over the past week, with no slab activity.

Confidence

Due to the number of field observations

Problems

Loose Wet

Loose Wet avalanches are the release of wet unconsolidated snow or slush. These avalanches typically occur within layers of wet snow near the surface of the snowpack, but they may quickly gouge into lower snowpack layers. Like Loose Dry Avalanches, they start at a point and entrain snow as they move downhill, forming a fan-shaped avalanche. Other names for loose-wet avalanches include point-release avalanches or sluffs. Loose Wet avalanches can trigger slab avalanches that break into deeper snow layers.

Cornices

Cornice Fall is the release of an overhanging mass of snow that forms as the wind moves snow over a sharp terrain feature, such as a ridge, and deposits snow on the downwind (leeward) side. Cornices range in size from small wind drifts of soft snow to large overhangs of hard snow that are 30 feet (10 meters) or taller. They can break off the terrain suddenly and pull back onto the ridge top and catch people by surprise even on the flat ground above the slope. Even small cornices can have enough mass to be destructive and deadly. Cornice Fall can entrain loose surface snow or trigger slab avalanches.